Mary Wittenberg
Mary Wittenberg credits being the oldest of seven siblings as the foundation of how she lives her life. The lessons she learned growing up in a close-knit Irish Catholic family with three brothers and three sisters and playing all the sports her father coached is what she draws on when setting her goals and ultimately realizing her successes. “I was incredibly fortunate to have the love and support from my family. They taught me to go after my dreams and never let my gender or setbacks get in the way,” states Wittenberg. “When you see something and believe in it, stick with it.”
Wittenberg in the lead car in front of the men’s field.
Those successes include being the first female CEO and president of a major sports organization, New York Road Runners; fighting for equal pay for professional female runners; being hand picked by Richard Branson to lead his Virgin Sports start-up; and, becoming a recognized and forceful leader of women’s agendas in the male-dominated world of track and field and road running. One of her most recognized legacies is turning the New York City Marathon into the largest one-day worldwide spectator sport worth millions of dollars in sponsorship money.
Wittenberg grew up in Buffalo coming of age in the ’60s, before Title IX. There weren’t many opportunities for females in sports and by default she became a cheerleader. She soon realized she didn’t like being on the sidelines and got into rowing, becoming the coxswain of a men’s team at Canisius College that went on to win a championship title. While attending Notre Dame Law School she ran with the men’s team, as there was no women’s team. Later on at her law firm in Richmond, she ran with the University of Richmond men’s team to train for the 1987 Marine Corps Marathon, winning in 2:44:34. That time qualified her for the 1988 Olympic Marathon trials but an injury forced her out of the race.
In 1994 her firm transferred her to New York City. Wanting to start a family she looked for a job that would give her more flexible hours and one that was also more in line with her love of sports. Taking a drastic pay cut, Wittenberg took a job with New York Road Runners as Vice President and Chief Operating Officer, working under Allan Steinfeld. Her initial responsibilities ranged from overseeing NYRR publications to administering membership and race scoring. She helped secure the deal that made ING a title sponsor for the marathon. “I had no idea what I was getting myself into,” recalls Wittenberg. “I only knew that it was so much fun to be there and we had an amazing team. I felt right at home.”
Wittenberg’s tenure at NYRR (1998-2015) was marked with successes, challenges, and disappointments. Under her leadership, the New York City Marathon was named the 2011 Sports Business Journal Sports Event of the Year. She lobbied for equal pay for female runners and in fact the first year she got approval, paid the women more than the men just to make a point. She also lobbied for the USA Distance Project, composed of training groups throughout the country for post-collegiate distance runners.
Her challenges and disappointments are linked with two of the biggest tragedies to hit New York: 9-11 and Super Storm Sandy in 2012. When Wittenberg decided to go through with the marathon six weeks after the fall of the World Trade Twin Towers on 9-11 and the devastating aftermath, she felt the marathon would heal the city and it did. “Was I scared? Sure! But I knew that the passion and outreach of the runners would lift the city.”
The same thought process to hold the marathon after Sandy was a mistake. “I read the city wrong. It wasn’t the time for the marathon. It wasn’t going to heal the city,” recalls Wittenberg.
Wittenberg calls Sandy a defining moment in learning to lead. “I learned the lesson of Pausing. As a leader, it’s critical to sit back and listen. I wasn’t always so patient. A board member gave me great advice: Take your nose off the grindstone. Step back, breathe, and give it room.”
When she left NYRR in 2015, Wittenberg received the 2016 Abebe Bikila Award, presented annually to an individual who has made an outstanding contribution to the sport of distance running.
Why did she leave her dream job? “I felt I had reached all my goals and although I still loved going to work (it was never really work!), I got a call from Richard Branson asking if I would spearhead his new subsidiary, Virgin Sport, a global lifestyle company dedicated to providing support for community-based sports,” explains Wittenberg. “Another dream job!” And another first role for a female.
When that endeavor ended in 2018, Wittenberg became president of EF Education First Pro Cycling, a Cannondale cycling team where she focused on business and marketing. When she attained her goals there, she joined League One VolleyBall (LOVB) in 2021 as President, with the mission of developing a professional volleyball team in the US and developing junior clubs across the nation.
Mary Wittenberg may not be a women’s pioneer of the sport in the sense of running in the ’40s or ’50s or ’60s setting course records, but her work as the first female director of a major sports organization and race director of the largest marathon in the world sets her apart as a trailblazer in track and field and distance-running management. She has always encouraged women to forge ahead and realize their dreams. “Don’t worry about what you want to achieve. Fight for what you believe in, don’t be shy. Don’t think of your gender as something to apologize for,” she emphatically declares. Shalane Flanagan, American record holder and an Olympic Bronze Medalist commented, "What Phil Knight is to Nike, Mary is to distance running.”
Wittenberg understands that sports gives women confidence. She has dedicated her life and career to making sure all women have access to that experience.
Note about the author: Gail Waesche Kislevitz is an award-winning journalist and the author of six books on running and sports. She was a columnist for Runner’s World for fifteen years and her freelance work has appeared in Shape, Marathon and Beyond, and New York Runner.
